MSA Students Capture 171 Mississippi Scholastic Writing Awards 2025-2026 | Mississippi School of the Arts
MSA Students Capture 171 Mississippi Scholastic Writing Awards 2025-2026
2026 MSA Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
For over 100 years, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have recognized the vision, ingenuity, and talent of our nation’s youth, and provided opportunities for creative teens to be celebrated.
Each year, students at the Mississippi School of the Arts (MSA), as well as other schools across the state and nation, participate in the Scholastic Art and Writing competition. Thousands of submissions are juried state-by-state to see which will advance to the national level. Mississippi School of the Arts is no stranger to Scholastics, having received state and national awards since the schools inception.
For the 2025-2026 school year, Literary Arts, Visual Arts and Media Arts students at MSA received 171 total awards including: Honorable Mention, Silver Key, Gold Key and a prestigious American Visions Nomination. Gold Key and American Visions awards will advance to the national competition.
The awards are presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, whose mission is to identify students with exceptional artistic and literary talent and present their remarkable work to the world. Students receive opportunities for recognition, exhibition, publication, and scholarship.
Gold Key and American Visions winning art will be on display at The Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, MS February 14 – May 10, 2026.
Writing award winners will be recognized at a awards ceremony at the Eudora Welty House in the Spring.
MSA students received 171 awards including:
1 prestigious American Visions Award
27 Gold Keys
51 Silver Keys
92 Honorable Mentions
Literary Arts Discipline
Dr. Nadia Alexis
, Instructor
Gold Key Awards
10 (including 1 Senior portfolios)
Silver Key Awards
23 (including 2 Senior portfolios)
Honorable Mention
46 (including 2 Senior portfolios)
James Ballard
(Sr) – 6 Awards ( Silver Key, 4 Honorable Mention
including portfolio Honorable Mention
Dorothea Cates-Foster
(Jr) – 3 Awards (2 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention)
Elayjah Earles
(Jr) – 12 Awards (2 Gold Key, 3 Silver Key including Silver portfolio, 7 Honorable Mention)
Kemarrion Galmore
(Jr) – 6 Awards (1 Silver Key, 5 Honorable Mention)
Stephanie Hartmann
(Sr) – 8 Awards (3 Silver Key including Silver portfolio, 5 Honorable Mention)
Sarah House
(Jr) – 2 Awards (2 Honorable Mention)
Quentin McClinton
(Sr) – 1 Award (1 Honorable Mention)
Lydia Nytes
(Jr) – 1 Award (1 Honorable Mention)
Lela Reed
(Jr) – 5 Awards (1 Gold Key, 4 Honorable Mention)
Lily Ross
(Jr) – 3 Awards (2 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention)
Robin Russell
(Jr) – 2 Awards (2 Honorable Mention)
Patrick Ryan
(Sr) – 9 Awards (5 Gold Key, 3 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention)
Richie Stover
(Sr) – 9 Awards (2 Gold Key including Gold portfolio, 1 Silver Key, 6 Honorable Mention)
Nick Scott
(Jr) – 3 Awards (1 Silver Key, 2 Honorable Mention)
Kierstyn Warner
(Sr) – 6 Awards (2 Silver Key, 4 Honorable Mention including portfolio Honorable Mention)
Academic English Department
Tobie Lambert
, Instructor
The following Literary students received awards with submissions entered through the Academic English Department. They’re included in the Literary Arts award totals:
Richie Stover.
Self-Submission
Cassidy Hodges
(Jr Visual) – 3 Awards (3 Silver Key)
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